When the only acceptable figure for violence against women is zero, then every other number is a failure

When the only acceptable figure for violence against women is zero, then every other number is a failure. That’s the standard we must hold ourselves to in Western Australia. Before entering Parliament, I wore a police uniform for more than a decade, and worked as support for families, teachers and children at schools. I witnessed cracks in our system; fear in women’s eyes, children moved from their homes, and families left isolated and traumatised. My experiences taught me that safety doesn’t come from speeches or slogans, it comes from systems that work, structures that protect, and the political will to make them a reality. While the human cost behind family and domestic violence is more than just a number, the numbers themselves paint a devastating reality. In the last decade under Labor, family assaults rose by 72 per cent, threatening behaviour surged, and breaches of violence restraining orders increased by 80 per cent. So, what is being done isn’t working. Behind the statistics are systems stretched beyond their means. Last year, in one regional shelter, 800 women and children were turned away due to lack of accommodation and staffing resources. The housing crisis has only made the situation worse. Nearly one in three homeless Western Australians are fleeing FDV, lacking a safe refuge and are forced to choose between being a victim of violence, or homeless. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also estimates that one woman dies every ten days at the hands of a current or former partner. These aren’t abstract numbers. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, friends. And their deaths reflect collective failure. As a South West local, I know the barriers and difficulties for women and families living in the regions caught up in FDV are even greater than what is experienced in the metropolitan region. While a police officer, I often saw women in crisis being moved from Harvey to a refuge in Bunbury. Their children taken out of their schools, relocated from their home environment, often those children do not return back to their school. Regional communities face delays for children with mental-health needs, transport and isolation amplify risk, and the system punishes victims by uprooting them, rather than protecting them. New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia have already begun criminalising coercive control and we look forward to the Cook Government’s legislation being introduced to Parliament. The community has been extremely patient waiting four years for this promised legislation and it is important that the protections it will afford victims are in place as soon as possible. This month I tabled a petition to call for an inquiry into FDV. An inquiry would enable survivors, frontline workers and the public to evaluate the government’s actions, examine what is failing, and, most importantly, identify solutions to FDV. The Government has committed more than $550 million since 2017 to new supports and services and that is welcome. But the commitment, especially in regional areas, remains patchy. Money alone will not end domestic violence. We need accountability, leadership and measurable outcomes. We owe that to all the women, children and families who live in fear. Michelle Boylan is a member of the Legislative Council.